December 30, 2021

***The Fishing Report Blog is updated every Thursday***   The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are dropping back towards fishable conditions but more rain in the forecast may blow out rivers again heading into the New Year.  Anglers would be wise to check the flow data at the following links before heading out: <Rocky River flow gage data><Chagrin River flow gage data> <Rocky River NEORSD station with turbidity>.  Walleye and steelhead have been biting along the Cleveland lakefront and mixed trout were stocked at five locations (details below) over the past week.

The Rocky and Chagrin rivers are just dropping back towards fishable conditions after being elevated and muddy for days, but rain in the forecast may wedll foil rivers anglers plans into the New Year weekend.  Anglers are advised to check the flow data at the links above before heading out.  Prior to the last blow out, river anglers reported success drifting dime size spawn sacks (hot pink and chartreuse are both stained water favorites), 1/64 to 1/16 oz marabou jigs tipped with maggots, and salmon egg mimmicking beads under floats. Anglers without specialized steelhead gear can also muse a medium action spinning rod for casting spoons (such as Little Cleo) and spinners (such as Vibrax and Roostertail) in areas with deeper water. Despite not being stocked directly, steelhead are also available in modest numbers in other streams, among them the Cuyahoga River (which shines when other rivers are getting low and clear) and Euclid Creek (which fishes best when bigger streams are elevated and muddy).

Anglers casting off the rocks and breakwalls at Edgewater Park, E55th/E72nd, Wildwood Park and Wendy Park continue to have opportunities to catch steelhead during the day and walleye at night.  Casting a spoon (such as a 2/5 oz Little Cleo or KO Wobbler) or spinner (ie Vibrax or RoosterTail) are a good ways to connect with a steelhead trout that requires no more than a medium action spinning rig spooled with 8-10 lb monofilament line.  A bobber with a 1/32 oz jig tipped with minnow or maggots suspend 3-6 feet below is also a good producer in the aforementioned areas.  A nightcrawler suspended under a bobber on a bare hook can also work well.  A longer noodle rod is best for fishing floats.  Walleye anglers have been connecting by casting lures like Husky Jerk, Bandit, Rattle Trap, and Perfect 10 stickbaits at dusk and after dark.  Be especially careful of slick conditions along the shoreline rocks and breakwalls, with ice cleats and a long landing net being good investments.

On Friday December 17th and Tuesday December 21st we conducted our first round (of two) scheduled winter trout stockings.  This consisted of a total of 3,000 lbs of trout distributed as follows: Wallace Lake (1,400 lbs), Shadow Lake (750 lbs), ledge Lake (650 lbs), Ranger Lake (100 lbs) and Judge's Lake (100 lbs).  The majority of the fish were 1-1.5 lb rainbow trout, but a good  number of brook, brown, golden rainbow and even some trophy tiger trout (more on this below) in the mix.  A fair number of trout remain at Ohio & Erie Canal from stocking in October.  Note: the daily limit at Wallace, Ledge, Ranger and Judge's lakes is 3 trout/angler and the limit at Shadow Lake and the Ohio & Erie Canal is 5 trout/angler.  The trout can bite well on colorful dime size balls of Power Bait dough, a waxworm ot two on a small marabou or tube jig and smaller spoons and spinners. 

Tiger trout, named for their tiger-esque stipes, are a rare hybrid between a female brown trout and male brook trout and for the first time ever  some were stocked in public waters in Ohio!  A few dozen of these cool fish were mixed in with the trout stocking on Friday and Tuesday at Wallace, Shadow and Ledge lakes to offer an opportunity to catch a rare trophy (Ranger and Judge's lakes were also stocked with trout, but not tigers).

Story Featuring the Recovery of the Cuyahoga River.  Below is a link to a great article about the ongoing recovery and fishing on the Cuyahoga River from Patagonia.  It also touches on the boom in female fly anglers in Ohio. Featuring Metroparks registered fishing guide Jeff Liskay. You can find it <here>. 

Photo Release Waivers for Fishing Blog Photos (fast and easy to complete online).  Photo release waivers for photos sent in for the fishing report can easily be completed online through Smart Waiver (takes only about 30 seconds to complete) at the following link: <Smart Waiver link>. You only need to do this one time and any future additional photos submitted are covered too.

If you have a photo that you would like to contribute to the fishing report, or if you have any further questions regarding fishing in the Cleveland Metroparks, you may contact Aquatic Biologist Mike Durkalec at (440) 331-8017 or [email protected] .

Tight Lines,

Mike

 

Adam and his father caught a two person limit of trout at Wallace Lake this week, including the golden rainbow trout pictured, and also took advantage of the great walleye bite from E55th breakwall after dark (photos courtesy of Mike Flachbart).




Phred caught his personal best walleye from E55th breakwall this week, a 31 inch 11.5 lb bruiser, that hit a blue and chrome jointed Husky Jerk (photos courtesy of Phred Carey).



Brent shared "A beautiful trout I caught on a handmade jig nymph!" (photo courtesy of Brent ONeill).





Brayden reported off Cleveland this week "Got three nice walleye Sunday afternoon On my perch rod. Made a nice dinner" (photos courtesy of Brayden Palus).





Walt and Christian caught some beautiful trout in Shadow Lake, including a tiger trout.  They tried different baits but PowerBait trout dough worked for them (photos courtesy of Walt Gedeon).



Owen caught a few steelhead in the Rocky River recently (photo courtesy of Owen Seilor).



Brett caught this fine walleye at E55th breakwall this week.  Brett serves as a Vice President at the <Western Reserve Land Conservancy>.  Groups like WRLC and <West Creek Conservancy> are among the many unsung heroes of the local conservation scene, always working to identify important land to protect and devising strategic partnerships and sometimes creative funding options for acquiring that land and getting it into the hands of groups that can best manage the land- which in many cases is local Metroparks (photo courtesy of Paul Palagyi).



Chuck and a buddy scored a brook trout and brown trout at wallace lake this week, with the brown being released to make another angler's day (photo courtesy of Chuck Naujoks).



Fabio swung up a gorgeous buck steelhead in the flows of the Chagrin River (photo courtesy of Fabio Malaspina).




Mike caught a bonus brown trout drifting a bead for steelhead in the Rocky River (photo courtesy of Mike Sekerak).




Speaking of brown trout, Jeff caught a chrome brown trout (top pic) while chasing steelhead along the Cleveland shoreline with Capt Rich (photo courtesy of Captain Rich).





Denny and friends caught some great walleye trolling along Cleveland this week, and also got a surprise Great Lakes strain spotted muskie just off E55th on a Rapala DHJ12 (photos courtesy of Denny Sharone).



Joe caught his first stellhead on a fly rod in the Rocky River this week (photo courtesy of Joe Lenkey).



Tom caught a 30" steelhead this week (photo courtesy of Tom Riley).



An angler poses with a Wallace Lake rainbow trout.





Nick and Alex have been catching some quality steelhead on various local rivers (photos courtesy of Nick Zarzeczny).






Andrew (in camo) and Jason have been catching lots of walleye at E55th breakwall- which is a very accessible area for folks with limited mobilty (photos courtesy of Andrew Smith).



Perch fishing has been much more spotty recently, but they are running very large.



Local Cleveland musician Matthew "Reddy Redd" shows off his local fishing pride.  Here's a link to one of his popular songs:  <All My Fault> (photo courtesy of Matthew "Reddy Redd").